Tuesday, June 26, 2007

"Paradise Found"

Out of the many avenues of information that I have pursued in gaining a greater understanding and appreciation of the LOST series, my favorite serendipitous find so far has been the discovery of the Russian artist, writer, archaeologist, teacher, scholar, adventurist, etc., Nicholas Roerich (1874-1947). I first found information about him while scanning the Internet on the connections between LOST and the classic book The Lost Horizon. While studying the similarities of the two stories I also found research done by Roerich, including his hundreds of paintings completed while on expeditions in places such as Asia. His life and achievements are extraordinary.

Roerich was a man who was somehow born into finding the perfect opportunities to live out all of his dreams. Not only did he seek out his own opportunities, they also found him on a regular basis. It seems as if whenever he was ready in his life for the next logical step to attain his dreams, the right series of events happened to make that step possible. It's truly amazing and he was very blessed! Positive synchronicity seemed to follow this fellow around, constantly offering up one fortuitous opportunity after another.

From a very early age, Roerich had a desire to see and be a part of the exotic places in the world. As a young boy he heard stories about faraway locales inhabited by mystical people, and he set his mind on visiting these places when he grew up. He filled his life with his dreams and the eager pursuit of them, apparently being born an extremely ambitious person. He often studied for more than one degree at a time, and held down jobs simultaneously as well. All his diligent work paid of when his life began to take on the attributes of his dreams and he embarked on trips to Asia, particularly Tibet. He married well also, to a creative woman who enjoyed accompanying him on his excursions. Throughout their travels, he painted hundreds of the exotic and holy images that he encountered on his treks. The peaceful Himalayan mountains, the mountainside dwellings of Tibet, and other sacred places, were all captured in dreamlike composition and tranquil colors. Having been affected by the peaceful aura of the stops on his lifelong journey, he also began a quest to spread peace throughout the world, and he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Albert Einstein and President Roosevelt were among his many admirers.

I have always been fascinated by people who are goal oriented achievers, and who aggressively seek to attain their dreams and aspirations. I try to learn and imitate their plans and methods. Nicholas Roerich is one of those people that should be imitated. But what I love the most about Roerich is his artwork. His paintings sometimes have a sort of primitive quality, but at the same time they seem full of the details that he feels about the subjects that he has painted. The colors are rich, harmonious, and tranquil.

As with so many other paintings that Roerich did of the holy places he documented with art, this one, titled "Holy Island" is so reminiscent of the LOST Island, it's eerie. It even has its own Falcatraz next to it! The Island in the TV series has many times been referred to as being special and possessing innate powers of some sort, and Roerich really captured that feeling with this painting. The island here looks lovely and benign enough, but also has a very ominous presence of the unknown to it, compared to the tiny visitors paddling toward it. I have not found any documentation on this painting yet, to be able to learn why the island in it is called holy. But with LOST's strange Island in mind, I can sense what Roerich might have been trying to convey in this painting. To learn more about Nicholas Roerich, visit the online museum here:

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CREDITS

The "Lost" images and screencaps for my graphics come from Lostpedia, Lost Media, ABC, DarkUFO, Blackswan, and the other helpful Lost blogs. Many thanks for sharing your talents and fancy equipment with Lost bloggers! :-)